Inflation brings pay demands and industrial action threats
Action has led to a third of services being cut in Scotland, while a ballot is underway for strikes in England. “ScotRail is not optimistic there will be any early resolution to the service cuts, which it says could continue for some months”reduced
THE UK inflation figure for April this year was 9% compared to just 2.1% a year ago. This surging cost of living is being led by energy charges for electricity and gas supplies that have risen by as much as 90% in the last 12 months, but the cost of petrol and diesel fuel has also risen sharply, driving up costs in the distribution chain that are reflected in shop prices.
This inflationary increase comes at the same time as the rail unions are negotiating pay and conditions against a backdrop of the Government’s aim to reduce industry costs through a combination of staff reductions and pay restraint.
In Scotland, a 2.2% pay offer has been rejected by ASLEF, which has organised a ballot for industrial action, but drivers are already declining to work overtime and rest days, and so a scaled back timetable had to be introduced from May 23. The action is having a large effect on the overall service, as the inability to recruit and train staff during the Covid lockdown periods meant there is a greater dependency on overtime and rest day working to cover train diagrams.
In an attempt to control ad-hoc cancellations and run a reliable timetable, the reduced timetable has seen up to a third of scheduled trains removed (around 700 out of 2150), with a particularly severe impact on late evening services.
Some examples are that the last weekday train from Glasgow to Dundee and intermediate stations will leave at 7.10pm instead of 11.10pm; the last service from Edinburgh to Glasgow will leave at 10.15pm instead of 11.45pm; and the last train from Edinburgh to Perth will leave at 8pm rather than 11.13pm. All 10 ScotRail trains to and from Dunbar have been cancelled, leaving passengers reliant on a handful of East Coast Main Line trains.
Services on a number of commuter routes from Glasgow will also end at 22.00 hours, creating issues for many people working shifts who depend on public transport. Similar cuts are to take place at weekends, which will have a severe impact on the night time economy.
ScotRail is not optimistic there will be any early resolution to the service cuts, which it says could continue for some months. The decision comes barely two months since the Scottish Government nationalised ScotRail, and it will not go unnoticed that public sector pay restraint has replaced the greater negotiating freedoms that are a characteristic of privatelyowned companies.
RMT ballot in England
In England, the RMT Union is balloting 40,000 members between April 26 and May 24 to gain approval for strike action by staff employed by Network Rail and 15 train operating companies.
The issues are opposition to a staffing reduction of 2500 and the potential for compulsory redundancy at NR; rates of pay; and
pension benefits. Provided those taking part in the ballot exceed 50% of staff entitled to vote, a simple majority is required to initiate a strike call.
It is not very clear whether the RMT has exhausted the negotiation process, particularly in regard to individual train operating companies, and to meet legal requirements it must be shown that each employer has reached a point where negotiations have ended. This looks an unlikely situation, and there is a big gulf from the British Rail days where negotiations were conducted with a single employee.
The concentration of signalling and network control at Rail Operating Centres using IECC technology, and the closure of many mechanical and power boxes, means it is an easier proposition to keep the network running using qualified managers and supervisors at these centres – even if there were to be a withdrawal of labour by staff often paid more than £100,000 per annum.
This will alleviate fears there could be disruption to rail freight services, where traincrew are not in dispute with the freight operating companies.
The RMT Union was rightly outraged at the summary dismissal of seafarers working for P&O Ferries, but it was an interesting comment from that company’s management that it was not worth negotiating as any attempt to cut costs would have seen an outright refusal to engage.
We do not want to see anything like this in the railway industry, which can be avoided if parties engage in meaningful discussion to find solutions to reduce the cost of running the railway to reflect the post-Covid loss of in farebox revenue.